How to Play Scopa: Rules of the Italian Card Game
In Italian, scopa means “broom”, and the best moment in the game is exactly that: one card that sweeps every other card off the table. The Scopa card game is a two-player fishing game played with a 40-card deck, where you capture cards by matching values or adding them up. Here are the full Scopa rules, from the deal to the tricky primiera count.
Key takeaways
- Scopa uses a 40-card deck: Ace to 7 in four suits, plus three face cards worth 8, 9 and 10.
- Each player gets 3 cards, 4 go face up on the table, and you capture by matching a card’s value or by taking cards that add up to it.
- A single matching card always takes priority over a sum, and a card that can capture must capture.
- Clearing the table is a scopa, worth 1 point, except on the very last play of the hand.
- Each hand scores 1 point each for most cards, most coins, the settebello (7 of coins) and the primiera, plus 1 per scopa, and the first player to 11 wins.
What you need
Scopa is played with an Italian 40-card deck. There are four suits: coins (denari), cups (coppe), swords (spade) and clubs or batons (bastoni). Each suit has the numbers 1 (the Ace) to 7, plus three face cards: the Fante, or Knave, the Cavallo, or Knight, and the Re, or King.
Some regional decks, such as the Piedmontese and Milanese patterns, use French suits instead, with diamonds in place of coins. No Italian deck at home? Take a standard 52-card deck and remove the 8s, 9s and 10s.
Card values for capturing
- Ace: 1
- 2 to 7: face value
- Fante (Jack): 8
- Cavallo (Queen in French-suited decks): 9
- Re (King): 10
The deal
The dealer deals three cards to each player, one at a time, then puts four cards face up in the middle of the table. The rest of the deck stays face down as the stock.
If three or four Kings turn up among the four table cards, the same dealer shuffles and deals again.
The non-dealer plays first, and turns alternate. When both players have played all three cards, the dealer deals three more to each player from the stock. No more cards go to the table, and the deal passes to the other player after each hand.
How to play Scopa: capturing cards
On your turn, you play exactly one card face up from your hand.
Capturing a matching card
If a table card has the same value as the card you play, you capture it. Both cards go face down into your capture pile. If two table cards match, you choose which one to take.
Capturing with a sum
If no single table card matches, you can capture two or more table cards whose values add up to the card you played. A Cavallo, worth 9, can take a 4 and a 5. If several groups add up to the right total, you pick which group to take.
Single cards come first
If your card matches a single table card, you must take that card, even if a group of cards also adds up to the same value. With a 5, a 3 and a 2 on the table, your 5 takes the 5. It can’t take the 3 and the 2 instead.
Capturing is compulsory
If the card you play can capture, it must capture. You are still free to play a different card that captures nothing, and that card stays on the table for anyone to take later.
A worked example
The table holds an Ace, a 3, a 4, a 5 and a 7:
- A 3 takes the 3.
- A 5 takes only the 5, because single matches beat sums like 4 + Ace.
- A 6 takes Ace + 5.
- A Fante (8) gives you a choice: 5 + 3, 4 + 3 + Ace, or 7 + Ace.
- A Cavallo (9) can take 4 + 5, or Ace + 3 + 5.
- A 2 captures nothing and joins the table.
Making a scopa
When your capture takes every card on the table, you have made a scopa, or sweep. It is worth 1 point. Players traditionally mark it by turning the capturing card face up and sideways in their pile. The plural is scope.
A sweep on the very last play of the hand never counts as a scopa. The dealer always plays last, so the dealer can’t score a scopa with the final card, even when that card clears the table.
Ending a hand
The hand ends when the stock is empty and both players have played every card. Any cards still on the table go to the player who made the last capture. Taking them is not a scopa.
Scopa scoring
Scopa scoring awards one point in each of four categories, plus a point for every sweep:
| Category | Who scores | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Cards | The player with the most captured cards (21 or more) | 1 |
| Coins | The player with the most coin cards (6 or more of the 10) | 1 |
| Settebello | The player who captured the 7 of coins | 1 |
| Primiera | The player with the best primiera | 1 |
| Scopa | Each sweep made during the hand | 1 each |
A tie in any category scores nothing.
The settebello is the most valuable card in the deck. It is worth a point on its own, and it also counts as a card, a coin and the best possible card for the primiera.
How the primiera works
For the primiera, each player picks one card from each of the four suits out of their capture pile, choosing the most valuable card in each suit, and adds up their primiera values. The highest total wins the point. The values are not the same as the capture values:
| Card | Primiera value |
|---|---|
| 7 | 21 |
| 6 | 18 |
| Ace | 16 |
| 5 | 15 |
| 4 | 14 |
| 3 | 13 |
| 2 | 12 |
| Fante, Cavallo, Re | 10 |
So the best primiera you can make is four 7s, for 84. Here is a closer example. You hold the 7 of coins (21), the 7 of cups (21), the 6 of swords (18) and the Ace of clubs (16), for 76. Your opponent’s best cards are the 7 of swords (21), the 7 of clubs (21), the 6 of cups (18) and the 5 of coins (15), for 75. You win the primiera by a single point.
You need at least one card of every suit to count a primiera at all. If you have no swords in your pile, you can’t score it. If neither player has all four suits, nobody does. Equal totals are a tie and score nothing, even when the cards differ: 7-7-6-4 and Ace-Ace-7-7 both come to 74.
Winning the game
Points carry over from hand to hand, and the standard target is 11. Scores are only counted at the end of a hand, so a player sitting on 10 can’t stop the game halfway through. If both players reach 11 in the same hand, the higher total wins. If the totals are tied, you play another hand.
Many players agree on a longer target instead, such as 16 or 21, and games with extra bonus points often go to 31.
Common variations
These are the versions you are most likely to meet:
- Scopone: a four-player partnership game with the same capturing and scoring, but all the cards are dealt at the start, 9 or 10 to each player.
- Asso pigliatutto: “the Ace takes all”. Playing an Ace sweeps the whole table and scores a scopa, unless there is already an Ace on the table, in which case it takes only that Ace.
- Scopa a quindici: you capture groups that add up to 15 together with the card you play. The Spanish game Escoba works the same way.
- Re bello: the King of coins scores an extra point, like the settebello.
- Napola: capturing the Ace, 2 and 3 of coins scores 3 extra points, with one more point for each further coin in sequence.
Strategy tips
Count the table before you drop a card. If the cards left on the table add up to 10 or less, your opponent may be able to sweep them with a single card. Leaving a total of 11 or more makes a scopa impossible on their next turn.
Chase the 7s. The 7s are worth 21 each in the primiera, and the 7 of coins counts in all four categories.
Think about coins when you choose a capture. When two captures are possible, prefer the one that collects coins. Six coins wins a point outright.
Plan for the last capture. The leftover cards go to whoever captured last, so a small capture late in the hand can swing the cards or coins point.
Play the Scopa card game online
The quickest way to learn the single-card rule and the primiera is to play a few hands. Our free Scopa game runs in your browser against a computer opponent, with a full scoring breakdown after every hand. You can play to 11 or 21 and switch between Italian and French-suited cards.
If you like card games built on adding up values, Cribbage is a natural next step: it scores fifteens, pairs and runs in a two-player duel.
Scopa has a long history. Wikipedia’s Scopa article describes it as one of Italy’s major national card games, alongside Briscola and Tresette, and notes it was especially popular in Naples in the 18th century.
Frequently asked questions
How many cards do you get in Scopa?
Each player gets 3 cards, and 4 cards go face up on the table. When both hands are empty, 3 more are dealt to each player until the stock runs out.
Can you take a sum when a single card matches?
No. If a table card has the same value as the card you play, you must take that single card. You can only capture a group of cards that adds up to your card when no single card matches it.
Does a sweep on the last card count as a scopa?
No. A capture that clears the table on the final play of the hand does not score a scopa point.
How do you count the primiera in Scopa?
Take your best card in each suit and add up their primiera values: 7 is 21, 6 is 18, Ace is 16, 5 is 15, 4 is 14, 3 is 13, 2 is 12 and face cards are 10. The higher total wins 1 point. You need a card in every suit to count, and a tie scores nothing.
Conclusion
The Scopa card game comes down to a few rules: match or add up to capture, take single cards first, sweep for a scopa, and count cards, coins, the settebello and the primiera at the end. Learn the primiera values and you know everything you need for your first game to 11. When you need a quick break between hands, the Chrome Dino runner on our homepage is ready to go.
